Car Insurance in California vs. Kentucky: Costs, Laws and Resources

If you're moving from California to Kentucky or vice versa, it’s important to consider that the states have different insurance requirements. For example, California does not require personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, whereas Kentucky does. Moreover, Kentucky’s drivers must carry more liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage than California’s.

MoneyGeek compared the car insurance laws and requirements in California vs. Kentucky, analyzed insurance costs and identified the cheapest companies for your needs.

California's auto insurance law only demands 15/30/5 in bodily injury liability per person, bodily injury liability per accident and property damage liability per accident. However, Kentucky’s car insurance law mandates 25/50/25 in liability limits combined with personal injury protection (PIP) coverage. As a result, Kentucky's state liability insurance is more expensive than California’s insurance. On average, drivers spend $665 per year on car insurance in California and $847 per year in Kentucky.

Kentucky is a no-fault state, whereas California is a tort state. This means that following an accident in Kentucky, you must file a claim with your insurance provider, regardless of who caused the accident. As a result, drivers in no-fault jurisdictions must have PIP coverage which provides financial protection after an accident but comes at a cost. However, in a tort state like California, you are responsible for any damages that you have caused.

According to our analysis, the following are the cheapest car insurance companies in California vs. Kentucky for minimum coverage policies:

• Cheapest in California: Progressive ($481 per year)
• Cheapest in Kentucky: State Farm ($428 per year)

Note that USAA is the most affordable option in Kentucky for qualifying military members and their families, with insurance policies averaging $369 per year.

Although Progressive's quote is the cheapest in California, it is nearly twice as expensive in Kentucky. Similarly, State Farm, Kentucky's cheapest insurer, costs around $300 more in California. This disparity is a perfect example of how rates vary between states and insurance companies.

Your policy’s coverage level is one of the factors that will determine your insurance cost. For example, drivers in California with a minimum coverage policy pay around $665, while drivers in Kentucky pay around $847 per year for similar insurance. Meanwhile, drivers with full coverage policies in California pay $1,429, while those in Kentucky pay $1,405 per year on average.

Notably, California's average cost for minimum insurance coverage is lower than Kentucky's, while Kentucky's average rate for full coverage insurance is lower than California’s. This difference demonstrates how average car insurance rates can fluctuate due to a variety of factors.

It's impossible to pinpoint a single factor that is the root cause of higher auto insurance premiums in some states compared to others. For example, California has a higher highway density, more concentrated urban population, higher vehicle theft rate and more natural disasters than Kentucky, which explains why California's average full coverage insurance is more expensive.

Car insurance premiums vary significantly by state. Santa Maria has the lowest state minimum insurance rates in California averaging $509, whereas Glendale has the highest at $1,066 per year. In Kentucky, drivers of Lexington pay the lowest rate of $728, while residents of Louisville pay the most expensive premiums of $966 per year.

Because automobile insurance requirements are uniform throughout a state, this factor will not impact your rates. More likely, your rates will be affected by the population density in your area.

If you’re moving from California to Kentucky or vice versa, your driver's license and registration must be transferred. It's possible to keep your current insurance provider if it's still operating in the state and can provide suitable coverage. If you move to a new state, your rates may change depending on your location's risks and the state's coverage requirements.

If you need to find a new company offering auto insurance in California vs. Kentucky, MoneyGeek has tools you can use to find one that fits your needs.

State-to-state variations in auto insurance regulations and rates are common. MoneyGeek addresses a few frequently asked questions about car insurance in California vs. Kentucky for you to differentiate between the two.

To calculate average car insurance rates by company and across California and Kentucky, MoneyGeek collaborated with Quadrant Information Services to collect auto insurance quotes from both locations. We used a sample profile for a 40-year-old driver with a clean driving record and minimum coverage unless modified by criteria like coverage level, age, driving offenses and credit score. Learn more about how costs are calculated in our MoneyGeek car insurance methodology.

Minimum car insurance requirements by state were sourced from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) of the respective state.